Building on Dreams

Chapter 30 - A Busy Month

Staying home on the weekend apart from services felt like a treat after being gone so much during the month of December. It was a chance for the family to regroup, reorganize and to get ready for starting again in the New Year. Susan got organized for her first business trip following the holidays, the children got ready to go back to school, and Greg spent some time preparing for the week ahead, fully anticipating that Monday, January 7th would be a momentous day.

It certainly seemed like it should be, and when he looked back on it later, that day did stand out as a day to remember, but for an entirely different reason than he originally supposed. In truth it did because it was the day he suddenly became so busy, the rest of the month passed in a blur.

It started out calmly enough, with an ordinary breakfast and morning routine with the children as they both returned to school, followed by time with Susan in their shared attic office after they left. She started work early on her projects that morning, conscious of the time she would need to take off at some point to visit the bank and to sign the escrow papers while still getting ready for her business trip the next day. Greg brought her a cup of coffee, and had barely sat down with his own cup in his hand when the telephone rang. The clock on his desk read 8:01 am, and it was Mr. Rutherford on the phone. That was the beginning of everything.

Susan looked up when Greg hung up the phone.

"What time will he be here?"

"At noon. We need the cashier's check cut before then," Greg advised.

"We'd better take care of the banking now then," Susan commented as she pushed back in her chair.

"Do you have time?" Greg questioned. To him it looked like his wife was in the middle of any number of things.

"I'll have to make the time ... and I'll probably have to work this evening to be ready for tomorrow. I'm sorry ... but that probably means I'll need you to take care of dinner too," Susan apologized.

"I can do that," Greg assured her. "I can even take the children out with me this afternoon so you can concentrate."

Susan smiled. "Thank you."

"Thank you for being so willing to accommodate me, Susan," Greg told her genuinely.

Greg gathered the documents he needed and a short time later, they were headed out the door, eager to be at the bank and waiting, the moment they opened.

As Susan predicted, getting their joint household account set up, appropriately tied to their debit cards, the funds deposited, and the cashier's check cut took most of the morning. As a result, Mr. Rutherford was on their doorstep waiting for them with a stack of paper under one arm when Greg and Susan arrived home. Greg ushered their realtor into the family's dining room where they had room to spread out. They each took a chair and a pen, and all together they began to review and sign each of the forms, various papers, and other documents involved in the close of escrow. By the time they were signing the last one, Jessie was home from school. To Greg's surprise, as he was walking Mr. Rutherford out the door, Zack arrived home too, passing him on the front walk.

"I'll meet you there in an hour, shall I?" Mr. Rutherford offered.

"Please," Greg agreed as Zackary paused on the front porch, watching the proceedings.

"What was he doing here?" Zackary asked Greg as he returned to the porch and they went through the front door together.

"Our escrow closed today. He was here so we could sign the papers," Greg explained. While he was downstairs seeing Mr. Rutherford, Susan had already returned to their study to finish some last preparations for her business trip the following morning.